Billy Elliot - The Musical to open at the Imperial Theatre on 16 Oct

The Olivier-Award winning musical Billy Elliot - The Musical, music by Elton John, with lyrics and book by Lee Hall, is to open at Broadway's Imperial Theatre on 16 Oct 2008, following previews from 17 Sep 2008.

Billy Elliot - The Musical was a London hit when it opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre on 11 May 2005 and has been a box office hit ever since.

The show opened to excellent notices: "Billy Elliot succeeds brilliantly because Elton John's music and, especially, Peter Darling's choreography enhance Lee Hall's cinematic concept." (The Giardian); "Billy Elliot strikes me as the greatest British musical I have ever seen." (Daily Telegraph); "Elton John's music is too often formulaic but about half of this show achieves dramatic poetry of a kind rare in any kind of theatre.(Financial Times); "Funny, touching and shamelessly enjoyable staging." (The Independent).

Set in England's North East against the background of the miners' strike - Billy Elliot is the tale of a motherless boy whose father wants him to take up boxing. Instead, the boy discovers a love for ballet that leads him from secret lessons to a place at the Royal Ballet School.

Billy Elliot is created by the same team that made the multi-Oscar-nominated film: writer Lee Hall, director Stephen Daldry, and choreographer Peter Darling. The musical's score is by Elton John, who also composed the music for The Lion King, Aida and Lestat.

The stage musical won Three Olivier Awards: Best New Musical, Best Actor and Choreographer. It also won the Evening Standard Award forBest Musical. A production of the show opened in sydney in Dec 2007.

The Broadway production will feature the same creative team as the London production: Ian MacNeil (sets), Nicky Gillibrand (costumes), Rick Fisher (lighting) and Paul Arditti (sound).

The musical is being produced on Broadway by Universal Pictures, Working Title & Old Vic Productions.

No casting has been announced for the show.